Added by Pumpkinate

on 26 Dec 2011 05:52

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Eras of 3D Platform Games

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Pulp Era

These games are 3D platformers in a very primordial sense. The graphics for Alpha Waves are utterly simplistic while Fade to Black, which attempts to be realistic, is somewhat of an eyesore. Nonetheless, their gameplay goes beyond isometric platforming for something that actually exists on a 3D plane.

Golden Age

Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot, being in development around the same time and thus having slightly different takes, formed the basic structures which every other 3D platformer would follow. Many franchises were updated for 3D at this point and new IPs were created especially for it. All the elements of the 3D platform game were created in this era. Because graphics could not yet imitate reality, most of these games are cartoony in aesthetic direction.

Silver Age

The genre having been fully realized in the previous era, these games improved graphics (even including some darker atmospheres) and made gameplay more complex and involving. New IPs came about and existing ones returned to varying success.

Bronze Age

Since the genre was pretty much perfected in the last two eras, the next great step was to experiment with gameplay. This was done with motion controls and inventive concepts (Skylanders's use of toy figures that act as DLC, for instance). Intriguingly, a resurgence of interest in 2D platforming also came about during this era; this even affected the 3D games, which were made to include 2D portions along with their 3D parts.

People separate the eras of video gaming into generations, so I decided I'd sort the eras of 3D platformers into different eras titled similarly to that of comic books. I've chosen some of the best as well as the most notable (there's a huge difference!) games in the genre for each section.

Still, I may have missed some. So, suggestions welcome. =]

See also

3D Platformers by vapor - If you like platformers in the 3D realm, check this one out. It's intended to be a full list of games in the genre, rather than a look at the era-by-era progression as with this list.

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Comments

CelShader

Posted: 1 year, 4 months ago at Dec 26 23:23

Great list, I have one suggestion for the Pulp Era:
Bug! for Sega Saturn (1995)

Oh, also Ratchet and Clank did spherical (moon) levels years before Mario Galaxy.

Pumpkinate

Posted: 1 year, 4 months ago at Dec 27 20:09

Heh... Unlike Miyamoto (LINK), I've heard of Ratchet and Clank well enough, but they're still on my wishlist and I didn't know about the spherical level design. I've replaced the example of Super Mario Galaxy with Spyro's Adventure, since that's a pretty new concept as well.

Bug! has been added. Thanks! has been posted. =]